The 2025 NCAA DI women's basketball tournament - better known as - is set to start next Wednesday and the excitement is piling up around the nation.

The women's basketball team has been selected as a No. 1 seed in the tournament for the second straight season.

That set the No. 4-ranked team up as hosts of the NCAA First and Second Rounds in the coming week at in Los Angeles, California. Joining top-seeded USC (28-3) for NCAA competition are No. 16 seed (25-6), [8] (25-8) and [9] (21-11).

The and the face off in their first-round matchup Saturday, and no other player is more ready to shine than sophomore superstar, who could steal the big dance and emerge as the best baller of the tournament.

The 6'2 guard became USC's sixth First Team All-American and the first to win the . Not bad for a player that set the all-time national record for scoring by a frehsman with 920 points, which speaks volumes of her greatness.

A video posted by the USC women's basketball team shows the moment the squad found out they were going to be the No. 1 seed in Spokane. While most of the players were excited and cheery, Watkins looks unfazed as she rather celebrate once her team is in a good position to contend for the national title.

Under the direction of head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, the 2024-25 Trojans won the regular-season championship and have posted a 9-2 record against ranked opponents as they now make USC's third consecutive and 19th overall NCAA appearance.

Gottlieb and her Trojans are looking to improve on last year's run, and USC's powerful performance so far suggests that this team has the potential to vie for the program's first NCAA title since 1984.

All-Big Ten First Team honorees and are both in line to repeat as winners of the national Shooting Guard and Power Forward of the year awards, while Watkins has already been named the National Player of the Year by The Athletic.